The present disclosure relates in general to a system operatively positioned in a fluid supply system comprising a manifold assembly and a replaceable fluid filter cartridge containing filter media, the manifold assembly having the capability for facilitating the removal of a first replaceable fluid filter cartridge and then having the capability for facilitating the installation of another replaceable fluid filter cartridge therein in a fluid supply system and, in particular, to a spool valve manifold assembly that facilitates the quick and easy removal and installation of the replaceable fluid filter cartridges from and into the manifold assembly.
Manifold assemblies having the capability for facilitating the removal of a first fluid filter cartridge and then having the capability for facilitating the installation of another replaceable fluid filter cartridge in a fluid supply system for industrial, commercial and consumer use are widely known throughout the industry. For example, most modern refrigerators, which provide drinking water and produce ice, and beverage dispensing machines, such as coffee makers and soda dispensers, use an internal fluid filtration system having replaceable fluid filter cartridges for filtering certain contaminates from the fluid, such as, water.
Given the use of relatively small amount of filter media contained within the compact replaceable fluid filter cartridges, frequent replacement of the replaceable fluid filter cartridges within the fluid filtration system is required. Therefore, these filtration systems are typically equipped with replacement filter cartridges that can be disengaged from a filtration system and replaced.
Unfortunately, such fluid filtration system may not always be placed in the most accessible location or at the most desirable orientation for a user to remove the old fluid filter cartridge and install a new one. Further compounding the problem of removing the old fluid filter cartridge from the fluid supply system is that the flow of fluid from the system must be shut off prior to removal of the replacement fluid filter cartridge.
An example of a prior art filter and valve apparatus providing for replacement of an encapsulated filter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,579,455 to Muzik et al. Muzik discloses a gate-type valve, wherein a receptacle disk for receiving a filter is rotatably coupled to an upper plate having fluid supply inlet and outlet ports. The receptacle disk includes through passages for receiving inlet and outlet ports of the filter. When there is no filter inserted into these passages, the passages are not aligned with the fluid supply inlet and outlet ports of the upper plate. After insertion of the filter into the receptacle disk, the filter and the receptacle disk can be rotated around the longitudinal axis of the filter to align the inlet and outlet ports of the filter with the inlet and outlet ports of the fluid supply.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,530 to Breda and U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,698 to Wichmann disclose spool valves.
One disadvantage of the prior art is that the valves can become hard to operate due to the sealing O-rings taking a compression set over time. Because of this compression set, a high breaking force to initially move the valve is required.
Thus, there is a need for an inexpensive, reliable device that can provide for the quick and easy replacement of filter cartridges in a fluid filtration system. There is a further need for a device that can integrate the replacement of the filter cartridge with the opening and closing of the valve and that can be operated with a minimum of force.